Petrochemical prices vary

10:10 AM MST | February 3, 2014 | Lindsay Frost

After broad retreats last week, petrochemical prices have been mixed this week, players report. Spot naphtha was said to be down $15/m.t. in northwest Europe, but olefins are marching to the beat of their own drummers. Spot ethylene continued downward, sinking €90/m.t. Traders suggest that sellers may now regret pushing spot prices higher after the January contract settlement because that attracted imports which have now swamped the market at the same time as production outages have been resolved. Propylene remains tight, however, and prices rose...